The cause of the Ethiopian Airline crash into the Mediterranean a few minutes after take off from Beirut, Lebanon (BEY) with 90 people, passengers and crew members aboard is still being investigated. As of this time, no survivors have been found, although there were more than 20 bodies recovered. The site of the crash has been found, which is about 2 miles off the village of Na- Ameh. The plane was en route to Addis Abbaba, when it crashed after taking off in bad weather. So far, terrorist activity has been ruled out. According to Lebanon authorities, the pilot flew in the opposite direction as recommended by the control tower. When asked to correct the direction, he did a "fast and strange turn" before disappearing completely from radar.

The authorities are saying that they do not know if the pilot is to blame, and could only be determined after they examined the black box, which is still not recovered.

An Air France plane carrying 288 people from San Paolo Brazil, en route to Paris is still not found as of 9:34 a.m. Central Time. Officials are speculating that the chances are slim that the aircraft was hit by lightning although they are not ruling out that possibility.

The aircraft, an Airbus 330, left Rio on Sunday at 7pm. local time with 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board. About 4 hours later, an automatic signal was sent indicating electrical problems while going through a strong turbulence, according to Air France. Brazil's last contact with the plane was at 930pm. Eastern time, but did not say where the plane was at that time.According to experts, it is clear that the plane is no longer on the air due to the amount of fuel it could carry. According to analysts, the conclusion would have been that "something catastrophic" happened that caused the disappearance of the plane.

Japan and Singapore have now suspended the Visa Waiver Program for citizens of Mexico. Prior to this, Mexican passport holders do not need a Visa to enter those countries, now they do need a visa.

There is one exemption allowed by Japan. The only one exemption is for Mexican Government Passport Holders. They do not need to obtain a visa if they are holding a government passport. In addition, Transiting Japan without a Visa (TWOV) is still allowed.

For Singapore, however, there are no exemptions. All Mexican passport holders are now required to obtain a visa when entering or transiting Singapore.

The above requirements is due to the H1N1 virus.Posted 05 May 2009

SECURE FLIGHT VETTING PROGRAMEffective May 15, every traveler's documents (tickets, itinerary), need to match the identity documents (passport, driver's license, etc.). Be ready to be delayed and/or stopped at the checkpoint if you do not adhere. This is part of TSA's secure flight vetting program. TSA will begin asking passengers to enter their full name as it appears on the government-issued identification they will be traveling with they making airline reservations. To read more about this, go to TSA's Secure Flight Program